A brand new watch (closed)

[RedDeeDee]

Jennifer smiled at the taller white woman who opened the door, looking as if she had just stepped out of a 1950s family television show.

"Hi, Mrs. Galway, is Jake down in the basement?"

"And the rest of your group as well, Jennifer," Mrs. Galway said with a smile. "Snacks are on the table, if you don't mind taking them down. You four behave. I'll be back in a few hours."

Jennifer smiled again as she went inside. Mrs, Galway studied the closed door for a moment, reflecting on the young lady who had just went into her house, Jennifer Johnson was a pleasant enough girl, and Mrs. Galway was quite sure that the young Asian girl (adopted as a newborn by an American family) could be quite pretty, if she just tried. But it seemed as if Jennifer was insistent on always wearing the frumpiest, most unattractive clothes she could find,

Take today, for example. The petite Jennifer (who Mrs, Galway thought must stand no more than five foot three) was wearing an oversized gray sweater over a blue blouse and baggy jeans. And she always had her head down, so between her shapeless attire and withdrawn manner, nobody ever noticed Jennifer. It was almost a month after meeting Jennifer that Mrs, Galway was finally able to get the girl to look her in the eye or exchange more than two words with her.

Well, at least Jennifer had made friends with her son and his friends when she moved her four years ago, Mrs. Galway thought as she made her way to her car. Now if only they could all look beyond their tight circle of friends and see what the wide world had to offer them.

* * * * *

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/42/d2/05/42d2052691b0e12ad7b71574a1469ce9.jpg
(Jennifer Johnson)

* * * * *

Even though the game room in the basement of the Galway home had it's own kitchenette, Mrs. Galway always went out of the way to make some kind of veggie snack for Jennifer. Today was no different, Jennifer smiled at the tray of vegetable tarts that Mrs. Galway had left on the kitchen counter. The tart shells were filled with slices of bell peppers and zucchinis and eggplant and tomatoes and just looked amazing. Jennifer loved her mother, but the way Mrs, Galway could just whip something up like this just overwhelmed Jennifer. And the fact that Mrs. Galway did this because she knew Jennifer was coming over made Jennifer beam inside.

"Hey guys," Jennifer yelled down, as she opened the door to the basement, "I'm coming down with the latest masterpiece from Jake's Mom."

 

[Bevatoria]

"Yeah. Masterpiece. That's what she calls it."

The rather blunt assessment of the vegetarian delights that Mrs. Galway (or 'Mom', to Jake Galway) had made came out rather quickly, and the tall, lanky high school senior continued his grumbling as an explosion sounded out from the game being played on the television in front of him. "Never makes anything that nice for me..."

"That's because you're not as pretty as her." The rather witty, cutting side of Kevin Blake wasn't one that was seen often outside of these four walls. The smaller, quiet blonde found most of his solace in the playing of his flute, a talent his friends respected even as they understood the scorn the rather unimpressive instrument got from many of their more masculine friends. Still, their bond was one forged out of secondary pursuits and interests; one of them being the video game in front of them. Jake dropped his controller in frustration as Kevin got another shot in with a smirk. "Or maybe it's because I just wasted you right now."

The sound of Jennifer's footfalls was accompanied by the familiar shot of a sniper rifle being fired, and Kevin scowled in disgust. "You have to be kidding me..."

Raising his arms in mock triumph, Brent Carter preened for a nonexistent cheering crowd. "I'm not." As Jennifer appeared at the bottom of the stairs with her plate of vegetable tarts, with Brent walking over to her with a smile. In contrast to the taller frame of Jake or Kevin's somewhat shorter body, Brent had spurted to six feet tall and had grown into a more respectable muscular type, his activity with the Boy Scouts having kept him in better shape then his lifelong companions.

That activity also got him an insult here or there, but the scouts had accepted him when nobody else had, and so Brent had tried to extend that by staying with the organization as a leader long past the time when anyone else he'd known had left, as well as extending that hand of friendship to those like him. Outsiders.

One of those had been the reserved Jennifer Johnson. Although quite attractive, her shy and reserved nature had made the denizens of their private school slow to accept her, and Brent had tried to take her into their little circle. The guys were just happy to have someone else around, even if it was a girl.

Or maybe especially, as even though they were all geeks, they were all still high school seniors, males with active libidos even if Jennifer's conservative clothes rarely let them think of her in any of their fantasies.

"Those look good." Brent reached out to the tray to grab one of the tarts, munching on it as Jake and Kevin looked on; Kevin to the television to set up another death match (with 4 players now, assuming they were going to play), with Jake giving an unnoticed nervous glance towards his desk, wondering if he'd have the nerve to-

"How's it going, Jenn?" asked Brent with a smile, trying to warm her up a bit.

 

[RedDeeDee]

"Pretty good," Jennifer said, looking over at the flat screen where the four person elimination game had been set up. Jennifer pretty much preferred any of the group's other gaming choices to that particular one, but Jake, Brent and Kevin were her best friends --- her only friends really --- so she was willing to play the sniper game (and play it well) when it was the choice of the other three.

Jennifer set the tray down in the kitchenette area of the basement and went over to her reserved seat for the four way match. "Mom and Dad are going up to their ski cabin for at least a week during winter vacation," Jennifer continued, referencing their mutual school's vacation between the fall and spring semester, "And I think they've kind of figured out I'd rather being role playing or something with you guys than being stuck in the snow for a week, so they'll probably let me stay by myself, that is, when we're not running an adventure."

Truth be told, Mrs. Johnson wished her daughter had more 'normal' social pursuits, rather than just confining herself to her academics and her 'gaming' friends. Still, Jennifer was happy with her life and was an excellent student, so Mrs, Johnson didn't interfere with her daughter's life, though both her and Mrs. Galway agreed on Jennifer staying in the upstairs guest bedroom, rather than down in the basement with her three friends, when there was a marathon gaming session at the Galway's.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight?" she asked, as she got her controller set to her preferences.

 

[Bevatoria]

"Two more rounds of this." smirked Kevin, turning to Brent. "You're not gonna get lucky this time..."

"Yeah. Gotta let Jake get his pride back now that Jennifer's showed up." laughed Brent, grabbing his own controller as they started another round. The fact Jennifer'd be staying with Jake for a while hadn't been lost on the three guys. Truth be told, to them it just meant having someone closer when they needed a fourth for Xbox games, or one of the many board or card games they enjoyed needling each other at. Being social was part of their DNA, but it was also what held them back from what passed for popularity at their school.

Because being social for them meant hanging out with each other. High School cliques, while severe, did tend to include some intermingling and mixing with other people or social circles, but the three of them had merely closed ranks. Sure, they got along with some of the people in the band, and Jake had found a few friends in Science class, but when it came to actually knowing other people, they simply turned inwards and spent more time with each other. If anything, it was a miracle at all that Jennifer had made it in to their little circle.

But they were 'nice guys', and so when Brent had asked her over to join them for a card game called Dominion, a friendship had been born. They hadn't really asked why she'd stayed around; Jake's mother if anything had probably helped foster their relationships the moment she'd met Jennifer. Maybe she was eager to have a girl around, to remind these guys about the existence of the other gender in a capacity that was not cooking for them and leaving them to their own devices.

"Damnit." said Brent, his left hand slipping off of the controller in disgust. "One more round, and we'll switch to some board games."

Even as he was playing, Kevin was still keeping up his end of the conversation. "Power Grid?"

"Too long." said Brent. "Settlers?"

"Eh." said Kevin. "Want something with a little more meat in it if we're going to switch to non-digital." Noticing Jake had been quiet - and not entirely because he'd been plotting his friends' digital demise - he turned to him. "What say you, host?"

"Um....h-how about we...I, uh, made something." He started, causing both guys - well, Brent, anyways - to turn towards him.

"What? A computer?" That was not usually a bad guess with Jake, giving how many new PCS and rigs he built. It was a miracle that he had not bankrupted himself, as his mother had long ago stopped supporting that particular habit of his.

"No..a watch?"

At that, Kevin - dodging a shotgun shot on the screen - chimed in. "Like a smart watch? Hate to tell ya, Jake-o, but Apple beat you to it."

Jake sighed. "It's...different."

"Different how?" Brent stood up. "Well, we can certainly try it out. Tell me where it is while you wipe Kevin off, and I'll go try it on so we can test it quicker." At that point, it was just Kevin and Jake left in the game - Brent wasn't sure whether he'd even managed to get third at that point.

"N-n-n-n-no. It can't be you."

The force of Jake's response startled all of them - and the fact he was stuttering, which Brent hadn't heard him do around the group in...maybe ever. He frowned, turning to Jennifer with a confused look, as to ask if she was as confused as he was about it.

 

[RedDeeDee]

Even though the present video game wasn't Jennifer's favorite, it didn't mean that she didn't immediately become engrossed in it, playing to the best of her abilities. Jennifer's video style was quiet intensity and stillness, with only tiny jerks of her hands and shoulders indicating her participation.

As game suggestions began being called out, she was going to suggest a quick game of Trails to Rails as something they could play while discussing what they really wanted to play when Jake began talking about something he made. Of course, Jake made a lot of stuff. His parents even gave him a section of the basement so that he could work on new computer systems and his other electronic 'inventions.' But this 'watch' must be something different, because it was making Jake nervous just talking about (as made evident by the appearance of his stutter).

One of the few concessions that the group made to Jennifer's femininity was that she was probably the only one who could be sympathetic to another member of the group without being suspected of setting someone up. So Jennifer decided to try to gently coax the information out of Jake.

"So what's special about the watch," she asked Jake, setting her controller down and giving him her full attention. "It's it lit a fitbit? Or maybe a gaming aide?"

 

[Bevatoria]

A shot rang out as Kevin was declared the winner, with Jake bowing his head, although he looked up again at Jennifer's question. "It looks like a fitbit." Having someone genuinely interested in what he was doing always brought him out, and even as he'd been closer to the guys Jake had found Jennifer a much more sympathetic soul. "But it...." He hesitated again, and at that point Kevin grabbing the controllers, shaking his head.

Brent smiled, turning to Jennifer. "Why don't you pick what game we start with while we figure out what Jake's fitbit does." Strangely enough, as much as they bickered with each other about games, they rarely seemed to take issue with the attractive asian's choices...

"It's not just a fitbit."

"But you said it looks like one." said Kevin. "Maybe we should call it a Jakebit."

Brent laughed as he went to the cupboard to grab a game while Jake continued. "Well...it does monitor your heart rate and blood pressure." A beat passed. "But it uses a combination of electromagnetic signals, vibrations, and..." He wanted to say something about endorphins embedded in the watch itself that pricked ever so slightly into the skin when you put it on, but he hadn't quite figured out the chemical aspect just yet. "...other things to relax someone. Make it more pliant, suggestible to certain courses of action."

That got a frown to Brent's face. "So...like you can control them?"

They were setting up the game at that point, and even Kevin looked curious. "No! But...it's like..." Jake frowned, and it was Brent that caught on to a certain analogy first.

"...getting drunk?" Not that any of them had really gotten wasted before, so there was nothing to compare it to. After a beat and a frown, Jake nodded.

"Well...in a way, yeah. H-how folks seem to relax and not worry about things as much.

What still hadn't been answered - and was the question on the tip of Kevin and Brent's tongues, even as they were still taking this all in - was why they couldn't use it. The idea of being a little less worried about things sounded good, and wearing it as a dare around this group of people didn't sound so bad.

The question they really should have been asking, of course, was about who could.

 

[RedDeeDee]

Jake's basement had two 'game closets.' There was the one with all the board games that made it to the regular rotation of game night, and there was a second closet, in another room, where the less popular games tended to migrate, along with other stuff from the basement that got stored there.

It was to the second closet that Jennifer headed to. There was a family game that the guys usually shunned, called Rail Baron. It was sort of like Monopoly, except with railroad properties and the board was a replication of US railroad lines. It was one of those games that got brought out if Mrs. Galway wanted to come down and play with her son and friends. But otherwise the guys eschewed the game, considering it beneath their serious gaming tastes. Which was a shame, Jennifer thought, because even though the guys stayed competitive when they played Rail Baron, the banter exchanged between everyone was always lighthearted, and win or lose, everyone was always in a better mood after playing the game.

Jennifer came back into the main room just after Jake had finished explaining his 'Jakefit' watch to Brent and Kevin. Having missed the 'sales pitch,' Jennifer was understandably not as curious about the watch as Brent and Kevin were, Instead, she held up the box and said, "We haven't played this since the last time Jake's Mom wanted to join us. Want to give it a go, and we can discuss what the real game will be for the rest of the evening?" she asked.

 

[Bevatoria]

"Suggestible?" frowned Kevin, at the word Jake had just used to describe the 'Jakebit'.

"Yeah. They're more...likely to accept your suggestions."

"So...tell me again why I can't use it?" asked Brent. "Hell, if you want a test subject..."

"It's...part of the chemical/electrical impulses that are in the device. I h-haven't figured it all out just yet."

"How do you know it won't work on me then?" Brent's voice was still skeptical as Jake finished.

"Not just you. All guys." A beat passed. "Males."

A silence passed over the group before Jennifer walked back in, having missed most of the conversation - a fact that did not escape any of the guys as they finally clued in on what Jake had been saying. This control device, however primitive and untested it was - and for whatever it would do - had to be tested on a woman.

And they all really only knew one who they could try it on. Who might even be willing.

One who had just asked if they could play 'Rail Baron' for the evening. A moment passed as Jake, Brent, and Kevin all exchanged glances before Brent smiled. "Yeah, sure thing, Jen. Might as well take something Jake-o doesn't have mastered already." He teased, elbowing his friend as they went to set up the game.

They took their places around a square table; although they could easily sit on different sides, with the way the board was set up it made sense to have one side unoccupied so that nobody had to try to read the board upside down. So it was Jake on one side, Brent and Jennifer sitting on one, and then Kevin besides her on the right.

After the game got going, Brent turned to the guys. "So, after I'm done winning this what do y'all want to do?"

Kevin laughed. "How about winner chooses the game?" Jake seemed to nod in agreement, and Brent half nodded, although he turned to Jake. "I'm interested in knowing more about your watch thing and testing it. It sounds cool."

Jake gulped nervously, and Kevin sighed. "He told us, dummy, we can't use it."

"No, we can't." said Brent, inclining his head towards her. "But she can."

It was about then he remembered that Jennifer hadn't heard most of their conversation about the 'Jakebit'....

 

[RedDeeDee]

"The Jakebit?" Jennifer said, oblivious to the nervousness Jake was exhibiting. "Oh, and I'm declaring $200,000" she added with an impish grin, knowing she was in striking distance of winning the game. "Why am I the only one who can test it? Is it a mass thing?" she asked, thinking it might be that, since she was the smallest of the group. "If I test it, it's not going to shock me or anything, is it?"

 

[Bevatoria]

"Son of a..."
"Frick..."
"Oh well..."

The three responses were to Jennifer's declaration - from Jake, Kevin, and Brent respectably. Jake, because he was several turns away from winning; Kevin, because he was about to make his attempt this turn, and Brent, who's game had started horribly and really only gone worse with every attempt to get himself back into it. Although he knew he'd take it better then Jake or Kevin would, which is why out of the three, Brent was the one not taking it as seriously.

But Jake's exclamation was quickly accompanied by a worried look. "It's...not a mass thing." He gave Kevin a glare. "Or a Jakebit." Brent stifled a chuckle as Jake continued. "It's a...sort of behavioral modification device. It'll make people more suggestible, let people tell them what to do."

"You mean females, Jakeo." said Brent, and Jake sighed.

"Yes. It only works on women." Jake sighed, looking at Jennifer. "It's like...something to help you relax, or do dares, or something. I'm not even sure if it works, frankly, but I was hoping to try it out, and..."

"Let's finish this game first." said Kevin, a little tersely. "I want to see if I win." Brent could also see what he was thinking, and frowned. "Really, a rover play, Kev?"

But was Jennifer thinking about trying Jake's little device? Would she be afraid of trusting her friends being able to suggest things for her to do?

 

[RedDeeDee]

When Jake talked about it working just on women, Jennifer's mind began formulating reasons on why it would just work on women. Biochemical perhaps?

And a device that would help her relax wasn't something she would pass up on. Not that she had a problem with pressure. For a nonentity, she was actually one of the top students at their private school, and a member of their school's Quiz Bowl team. But if she was able to relax even more, she could use that energy to focus more, and have an edge on any of their competitors.

But when Jake mentioned dares, she frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. "Dares?"

Before she could pursue that line of questioning, Kevin insisted they finish the game.

Which didn't take long. As soon as Jennifer got to her destination, she rolled the dice for a new destination and grinned. Her new destination was within a single die roll of her starting point. Plus, she had an advanced train that let her roll three dice instead of two. When she got to her new destination on the roll of two dice, she declared she was going for the victory, and got to her home point on the bonus roll. The other guys never had a chance to intercept her on her run home.

"So what do you losers want to get beat at next?" she said playfully, as she went to get herself another water.

 

[Bevatoria]

Brent laughed, Kevin smirked, and Jake...was still thinking of answering her question as she asked what game they wanted to play next. "Well, it is winner's choice, so..." started Brent, motioning back towards the closet as Kevin got up to grab himself another coke. Jake, however, was antsy, and the reason for his nervousness wasn't just him rethinking how he hadn't managed to even get halfway home on his route during the game.

"It's not *just* dares." It took Brent a moment to realize what Jake was talking about as the affable high school senior continued. "It does make people able to tell you things to do, but you'd still have the ability to refuse." He frowned. "I think."

"But part of making you relax is making you consider things, to. Broaden your horizons. Kind of a stimulant/enhancer." Jake shrugged. "I haven't really been able to test it yet, which is why I was hoping...well..."

"...that you'd be willing to try it out for me. To help work the kinks out."

The seriousness was quickly cut through as Kevin came back with his coke. "So? What are we doing next?"

All eyes went back to Jennifer, since it'd be her choice...

 

[RedDeeDee]

Jennifer wasn't sure about this whole broadening her horizons outlook, but she did admit that the idea of a watch helping her relax, maybe even helping her focus more on her studies, sounded intriguing. Jennifer was an excellent student, but she had dreams of studying to become a medical researcher in a few years, and medical school took its toll on even top students.

Still, it was the 'dares' comment that made her feel uncomfortable.

But it wouldn't hurt to at least take a look at the device.

"So could we see it, Jake?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like going to lock on my wrist and not come off, is it?"

 

[Bevatoria]

"Oh, no, no." Jake got up, his nervousness distracted by focusing on something. "It's like a...real watch, in a way." He scrambled over to his desk, opening a drawer as his friends looked on curiously as he eventually pulled out what looked like a slightly altered light red (almost pink) wristwatch. The strap was velcro, and the head was bigger then most watches.

The top of the watch head had a digital display which showed heart rate, endorphin levels, blood pressure (depending on which screen you hit)...but the bottom had something resembling plastic or metal points at the bottom. Not sharp, but dulled, as he brought it over to Jennifer.

"T-t-those make the readings, so they make slight indentations into your wrist, as well as injecting certain chemicals. Small, trace amounts, to help the relaxation." He motioned to the strap. "You can slip it on or off like a regular watch; click on this to have it stay on, and then flip it up and you can slip the strap off." He said, demonstrating it for Jennifer. Brent nodded with pursed lips, Kevin looked...skeptical.

"How do we know the damn thing's not just a failed smart watch?"

Jake shrugged. "W-well, I guess we don't...not until we test it, anyways."

 

[RedDeeDee]

Jennifer studied the watch with a certain amount of incredulity and misgiving. She was about to take a pass on trying it out when an idea came to here. Quickly she went over to the array of snacks that her and the guys were foraging on and put a pizza roll on a napkin. The pizza roll in question was a brand that the guys liked but that she herself loathed. Returning to the group, she put the pizza roll down and took the wristwatch. With a lot more trepidation than she was showing, Jennifer put the watch on.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to steady her heart rate display, then looked up at her friends.

"Okay, one of you order me to eat that pizza roll."

 

[Bevatoria]

Their reactions illustrated their personalities in differing ways, all three of them rushing over to see if it worked as Jake had intended...even ignoring the pizza rolls that Jake had brought down earlier, the warm, salty taste still permeating the air even as they looked at Jennifer with varying expressions. Kevin, with one of amazement, Brent with a smile on his face, and Jake...

...well, Jake was just making sure the watch was working as her heart rate monitor came up. It didn't even occur to him that he was glancing between her breasts and the watch until he saw Brent giving him a wink; still, he nodded. "Seems to be working..."

But the real test came after, when Jennifer asked them to order her to do something. Jake was quick to the draw. "Eat that pizza roll." It wasn't anything to any of them to do it, and Kevin reached for one as she did, chowing it down as he watched her reaction.

"Does that count, though? She told you to tell her to do it...." he said, half garbled through the bite of the roll. Still, their interest in her chowing down the roll was almost sad, and Brent quickly came up with something as she ate.

"Okay, touch your nose, Jennifer." He said simply.

"And stand up and do a twirl once you're done eating the roll!" said Kevin, frowning as Jake and Brent both looked at him. "What? We should all get to try something..."

 

[RedDeeDee]

"Hey, hey, one command at a time," Jennifer laughed, as she tried to clear her mind.

She really didn't like those pizza rolls. I mean she really didn't like them at all. Just thought of how greasy they were, and how they would sit on her stomach, just made her shudder. It was one of the reasons Mrs. Galway made veggie snacks, so that her son's one female friend would actually have something to snack on.

But Kevin had ordered to eat the pizza roll, and an inkling of an idea had presented itself to her mind to do so.

And her stomach and taste buds revolted at the idea of actually eating one.

Suddenly, the screen on the watch blinked several times and then went blank. Jennifer swore that a tiny wisp of smoke drifted up from the watch as Jennifer hastily removed it.

"Um, sorry, Jake," Jennifer said guiltily as she handed the watch back to him. "I think I broke it. Um, maybe you can work on it and we can try again tomorrow? But I don't think it works if everyone's shouting something at once, if that'll help you figure things out. And I think if I really don't want to do something, the watch can't influence me in that direction." Which relieved Jennifer as she said it. She didn't really like the idea of being a robot or anything. Still, maybe the watch could help her on her studies by keeping her calm and focused at all time.

"Do you still want to game tonight, and we'll try again with the watch tomorrow night, or later in the week?" she asked. "You know, when you've had a chance to work on it?"

 

[Bevatoria]

The hopes of several guys - even with as fickle as those of high school guys were - disappeared in that puff of smoke. It wasn't about having someone to experiment on, but something - Jake's new toy. "Dumbass." said Brent, talking to Kevin. He wasn't about to insult Jake's technical brilliance, but Kevin's expression fell for a moment, until he realized it was just as likely that Brent had caused the thing to malfunction.

"Hey, c'mon-"

Jennifer's voice caused them to stop, and Jake nodded in assent to her statement about it being too much at once. "Y-yeah. Maybe." He frowned. "Too many negative feelings, or nervousness and anxiety..." He gave both of his friends a look. "And definitely only one thing at a time. At least until we work the bugs out, and the device gets used to its wearer."

Jake took the watch and went to his desk - a large one which had his computer and an impromptu work area - and as he got some of his tools out, Brent sighed. "Looks like we've lost him, Houston." Turning to his friends, he went for the closet. "Let's go for something for three to finish the night and then maybe we'll meet up again tomorrow."

He wasn't giving the watch another thought, even as his friend puttered around while he and Kevin finished up the night with Jennifer.

 

[RedDeeDee]

"Jennifer, I can't believe you brought those," Mrs. Galway said with a laugh.

Jennifer just shrugged and grinned. Jake's mother and Jennifer were standing in the kitchen, the day after Jennifer first tried out Jake's watch, discussing the two bags that Jennifer had brought over. One contained a bag of Jennifer's favorite spinach wrap, the other...

"Jennifer, those have to be the greasiest tacos I have ever seen," Mrs. Galway chuckled.

"They turn my stomach just being in the same room with them," Jennifer agreed with a laugh.

"Well, the boys will be glad to see them. There are some healthy snacks down there too, they perhaps you can get them to at least look at," Mrs. Galway said. Jennifer told Jake's Mom she'd try her best, as she carried the two bags down to the basement.

 

[Bevatoria]

It would have been a typical gathering of the 3 amigos + Jen. Some had started to call them 'the four amigos' but Jennifer didn't really fit the mold of their geeky little club. Still, the fact she hung out with them was proof enough for many of the other students that they had the same interests; it never occurred to any of them that it was because they'd been nice to her and tried to include her, as opposed to expecting her to conform before getting accepted.

One of those things that she hadn't quite conformed to was an example downstairs, as Kevin's alert sense of smell picked up the smell of tacos, quickly going over to her to take them from her. "What are in those, Jen? They smell great!" It was a rare show of positive emotion; the guys knew it was meat, but Kevin was ever suspicious of her trying to sneak vegetables in to their lives, like Jake's mother...

For his part, Brent walked over and looked at the other bag. "Spinach?" He asked. "Been trying to get more of it in..."

"Suck-up." Kevin was already working on getting the tacos out, intending on chowing down, tossing a verbal grenade at Brent, who was the only one of them who'd shown any kind of eagerness to try her vegetables. In response, he shrugged with a smirk.

"Must be the boy scout in me."

Jake was still buried at his table, the watch put back together, with a slightly larger screen, as he screwed it closed. "Okay. Software reset, and then we can try it again in an hour or so..." With a blush, he turned to Jennifer. "A-assuming you're okay with that..."

He sniffed the air. "Who brought tacos?"

 

[RedDeeDee]

"I'm more than willing to share," Jennifer said with a smile to Brent before grabbing a spinach wrap and a bottle of water for herself. Jennifer let the guys grab their own food and drink and get settled in before she decided to broach an idea.

"Ok, listen, I've been thinking, you know we got that four day gaming session planned for this weekend, with me grabbing my shower and zzz's upstairs," she began, referring to the guest room she'd be staying in while she stayed over, "And we all got gift money for the holidays, and Kevin's mom says we can use that big table in the storage room for whatever. So what if, since we got all the resources, instead of gaming today, we come to some kind of decision about picking a miniature system we can all agree on, and convert that table to a permanent tabletop miniature battleground of some kind this weekend?"

 

[Bevatoria]

She got three differeing reactions from the guys at her proposal. It wasn't that they didn't like the idea. While they had varying levels of skill at miniature tabletop games (in order of Jake, then Kevin, and then Brent), they all enjoyed it greatly. If anything, Brent took pride in his acquired mediocrity and usually laughed when one of his half hearted plans came crashing down around him; unlike Kevin who tended to get pretty frustrated.

After a moment, Brent turned to Jake and Kevin, and after glancing at both of them, nodded. "That...sounds good." He took a spinach wrap and began munching on it while Kevin chowed down on his taco, and Jake made his final alterations. "Not like we can't do something else on the floor near the television, if it comes to that."

Jake nodded, although there was still a bit of disappointment showing on his face. "Well...as long as that's not all we do."

Brent had to bite back a chuckle as he swallowed a bit of the wrap. "C'mon, man. You know Kevin can't keep his mind on anything other then his music for more then thirty seconds." Ignoring the glare he got in response from his lighter haired friend, he continued on. "Why? Not in the mood for losing to me?"

Jake's smile betrayed the fact that his mind was elsewhere, as it often was even as he was beating his friends. "Well, I was wondering if Jen wanted to try the watch again."

Another shrug from Brent. "Hell, it's not like we can't play and have her wear the darn thing...we have to take it easy on it too, right?" Jake was about to respond, but they all wanted to let Jennifer speak, too.

That, and Kevin still had a mouthful of taco shell and meat.

 

[RedDeeDee]

"Well, I know we can play on the floor, but I thought it would be pretty cool to have something more permanent," Jennifer explained. "You know, a permanent valley of Armageddon. And we don't have to do the mainstream miniatures. We could do historical too. Or some kind of fantasy armies, and come up with a set of hybrid rules. You know, pick and choose what we want."

When the guys started talking about the watch, Jennifer laughed. "Hey, maybe it isn't a matter of her wearing it while we something else at the same time. Maybe it's a matter of whether I want to or not. It blew up on me last time, you know. I'd rather not give that watch another chance to catch something on fire! Plus, you guys were yelling out orders. I'm not signing on for you guys to try to turn me into a robot. I was looking into for the focus and relaxation possibility."

 

[Bevatoria]

"C'mon, floor *and* the table Jen." said Brent with a laugh. "Just in case we get tired of one game, we could start a smaller one..." It was clear, however, that her idea had sparked something in the guys, and Kevin had the expression of someone plotting something. "Yeah, some sort of long term game of Civilization...I've seen a hybrid set of rules which can allow the game to go for days."

Brent tilted his head in thought, but Jake was out to respond to her questions about the watch. "Sure thing, Jen. I...I was just hoping you'd be willing to help me out. But if you do it again, I promise we won't push you." Jake's voice was soft. "It'll take some time to get used to you anyways, so maybe one night of just you wearing it and then maybe we can try something simple the next day."

Their conversation was mostly drowned out by Brent and Kevin setting down ground rules for a potential Civilization match, and about how much (or little, in Brent's case) fun they'd had playing the computer game version of it.

 

[RedDeeDee]

"Well of course 'both' Brent," was Jennifer's laughing response, but she found herself joining in the discussion, arguing that they could reconstruct the terrain of one of the provinces that found itself the site of the most battles in their Civilization games. She even suggested changes in the rules of the game itself that would allow for three or four player battles in that province. Pure, glorious chaos!

When Jake made assurances that they wouldn't push her, she just laughed. "Well, I'm not really worried about that. When you guys were telling me to do stuff like touch my nose and stand up and eat pizza rolls all at once, you overloaded Kevin's creation and left it smoking. And I could tell you couldn't make me eat one of those nasty pizza rolls," she added with a look of distaste on her face, "So obviously the watch has its limitations. But I really do want to focus on getting focus. Because otherwise, what's the benefit to me in experimenting?" she asked.